


Early Morning

by my_name_is_gil



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: CR spoilers, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Spoilers, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 12:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19173490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_name_is_gil/pseuds/my_name_is_gil
Summary: Caduceus speaks with the Wildmother about his journey, and Fjord's role in all of it.





	Early Morning

Caduceus opted for the last watch before sunrise. He took it alone, depending on his keen perception to keep his party safe. Everyone was wiped from their previous battle, so no one argued. 

He loved the early morning. The wind brushes the grass and the birds just begin their crowing as he took a moment to look at his friends. All fast asleep, after a long day of fighting. Finally on their way back to the Xhorhouse after another long, dangerous journey. Caduceus wanted to be happy. But he felt every inch of the distance they made from the Wildmother's tree. It was so good to see her again. He knew she was everywhere. But that tree felt like he was home again.  
His eyes rested on Fjord for longer than the rest. He was the most wounded in the battle, and it showed in the scars and bandages and bloodstains. Caduceus drifted over and cast a quick Cure Wounds on him. Some of his cuts closed up as he groaned and rolled over onto his face. 

"That can't be comfortable," Caduceus mumbled to himself. 

He returned back to the rock he had been sitting on for his watch. Still no sign of life other than him and the birds. He felt himself getting distracted, drifting away in his mind. So much had happened in the last week. They had all nearly died several times. He found the last tree the Wildmother had touched on this plane. And the most strange part: Fjord. The night they had all spent, sleeping under the Wildmother's tree, Fjord had a dream in which the Wildmother protected him. He said he could feel the difference her help provided with his magic. Caduceus had never known a different feeling, but he nodded like he understood. Too many things, too quickly. Too much to process alone. 

And so he called out.

"Wildmother, I need your guidance." The words rolled from his lips as they had so many times before, but a hint of desperation pushed them out with a tremble. 

"Yes, Caduceus?" Her soft voice came in like a breeze. For a moment, the air smelled of fresh grass and wildflowers. Seawater. 

"I need to know. This path that I'm on… Where Fjord also seems to be heading. Is that my plan? Is my plan about saving my home, finding my family? Or was I here to help him all along? To- to help him?"

He closed his eyes and saw his goddess like a mirage. Her laugh lines ran deep like rivers, and her smile was full of love, as it always was. 

"My child," she whispered, "You will come to understand that they are one and the same."

Caduceus stopped. "I don't understand."

"You will soon." She laughed and it sounded like a brook rushing over well-worn rocks. "The path is never as clear as you plan it. There is not one way to go about it, nor one direction you can go where your destiny will not follow you. You are on the path. Have faith in where it will take you." She went with the breeze and Caduceus was left alone, still sitting.

"Caduceus?" He heard a groggy voice from behind him. Fjord was propping himself up from his sleeping position, still rubbing his eyes. 

"Is something wrong, Fjord?" He responded, craning his head to look at him. 

"No, nothing wrong. Actually, I feel a lot better now."

Caduceus smiled. "Well, that's good to hear."

Fjord smiled back at him as he stood up to join him. Caduceus made room on his rock, but there was not a whole lot of room to spare to begin with. The compromised by sitting shoulder to shoulder. 

"Can't say too much about Xhorhaus' scenery, but they sure got one hell of a sunrise out here." Fjord gestured to the distant horizon, where the yellow had just begin to peak ahead. Caduceus nodded and they sat in silence for a while, not once looking at the other at the same time. Finally, Fjord broke the silence.

"Look, I don't know how to say this," he started, fumbling with his fingers. "But if you had anything to do with the Wildmother helping me recently, like a sort of reference or something… Well, I just wanted to thank you."

Caduceus looked to Fjord, his eyes radiating a new form of kindness. "As much as I wish I could take credit, I did nothing of the sort. The Wildmother chose you for a reason. She helped you entirely of your own accord."

"So… you had nothing to do with it?"

"Nothing at all."

"Huh," Fjord mumbled. Before he could think about it, Caduceus took Fjord's still fidgeting hand. Fjord stopped, surprised, but didn't pull away. He watched as their fingers awkwardly interlocked.

"Even though it wasn't me that told her to help you, I can't help but feel she did it for a reason." Fjord looked up to Caduceus' face, but he was watching their hands as he began doing lazy, comforting circles with his thumb on Fjord's finger. "I think I'm supposed to help you find her."

"You know," Fjord stuttered, "I was hoping you'd say something like that." Caduceus patted Fjord's hand as he released his grasp. Before he fully let go, Fjord jumped on top of the rock, putting him at Caduceus' face level. Without a word, he kissed him on the cheek, lept off the rock, and began waking up the rest of the group. 

"Alright everyone, rise and shine! Time to be grateful we didn't die yesterday or something!"

Caduceus stood there for a moment, trying to process what happened. His cheeks flushed a darker pink, and he smiled to himself.

"Well," he chuckled. "I guess I'll start cooking breakfast."


End file.
